HALF MOON SERIES 



EDITED BY 

MAUD WILDER QOODWIN 
ALICE CARRINQTON ROYCE 
RUTH PUTNAM AND 
EVA PALMER BROWNELL 




Vol. II., No. 5. May, 1898. 



Bowling (3vccn 



3Bb 



Spencer ^raeh 



^ 



Copyright, 1898, by 

G. P. PUTNAM'S 50NS 
New York ^ London 

Zbc "Rnfcftcrlwcfect press, New Rochelle, N. Y. 

Entered at the Post Office, New Rochelle, N. Y., as Second-class Matter 



Price Ten Cents 



Per Year, One Dollar 




Class 


J-l?.g 


Book 


JcS 


CopyiightN"_ 


. iy "[ 7 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSI-n 



^tUVLRU. 






BOWLING GREEN 



163 




Half Moon Series 

Published in the Interest of the New York 
City History Club. 



Volume II. Number V. 



BOWLING GREEN. 



165 



By spencer TRASK. 

NEW YORK is cosmopolitan, essentially 
so, beyond all large cities of the world. 
Absorbed in the whirl and stir of the To-day, 
occupied with vast schemes and enterprises 
for the To-morrow, overswept by a constant 
influx ofjiew life and new elements, it seems 
to have no individual entity. It does not hold 
fast its old traditions, its past associations. It 
is hurried on, in the quickstep of its march of 
improvement, far away from its starting-point; 
and as it goes and grows with rapid progress 
into something new and vast, it ruthlessly 
obliterates its old landmarks and forgets its 
early history. It is well, sometimes, to look 
back and remember the beginning of things, 
to quicken our civic pride by measuring our 
growth, to recall the struggles and the con- 
quests which proved the courage, patience, 
and stamina of the people who made New 
York what it is. 



ilDarcb of 

llmprovea 

ment 



i66 



iBowliuG 6reen 



JBartec 

witb 

1In^ians 



There is no piece of land on Manhattan Is- 
land which has retained for a longer period its 
distinctive name, and at the same time fulfilled 
more thoroughly the purposes of its creation, 
than the small park at the extreme southern 
end of Broadway, known as Bowling Green. 
It is the one historic spot which has never 
lost its identity or been diverted from public 
use since the foundation of the city. 

The history of the city from the time when 
the good ship Sea Mew sailed into the bay, 
May 6, 1626, bearing the doughty Dutch Gov- 
ernor, Peter Minuet, — with no city and no peo- 
ple as yet to govern, — to the present, might 
almost be written from what has been seen 
and heard from this small plot of land. 

The West India Company was chartered by 
the States-General of Holland in 1 62 1 . In 1 625, 
enough capital had been raised, and colonists 
obtained, to warrant the Company in begin- 
ning to avail itself of the almost unlimited 
privileges granted, of exclusive trade along 
the whole Atlantic coast, and of almost sov- 
ereign power. The first act of the honest 
Dutchman on that May morn was to call to- 
gether the Manhattan tribe of Indians, proba- 
bly on the very site of the future Green. There 
he traded for the whole island, named after the 
tribe, estimated at that time to contain about 
'* 1 1,000 Dutch morgens," ' or 22,000 acres, a 
quantity of beads, trinkets, etc., valued at sixty 



JSowUng (Breen 



167 



guilders, or about twenty-four dollars, a sum 
far less than that now paid for a single square 
foot of any portion of that land which then 
came within his vision. From this sharp bar- 
gain was to grow the city that was destined 
to be the commercial metropolis of the new 
continent, and the second largest city of the 
world. 

In order to insure peaceable possession, a 
fort was built, seemingly under the direction 
of one Kryn Frederycke, and in 1635, a larger 
one was erected at the contract price of 
$1633. It was 300 feet long, and 250 wide. 
This enclosed the Governor's house, barracks, 
and, later, the church. The contract for the 
building of the church required it to be of 
'* Rock Stone," 72 feet long, 52 feet broad, 
and 16 feet high. The price was $1000. This 
fort occupied the space between the present 
streets called Whitehall, Bridge, State, and 
Bowling Green. The sally-port was at the 
north. 

The large open space opposite the sally-port 
was set apart and known at first as **The 
Plaine," afterwards to become the Bowling 
Green. It held a place of great importance in 
the annals of the city in times of peace and times 
of war. This was the village green, which 
marked the growing social life of the people. 
Here the children played, looking far off into the 
watery distance as they remembered stories of 



Ube 3f ort 



i68 



Bovvlina Oreen 



Ibow tbe 

©reen was 

'CISC& 



their grandfathers' and fathers' homes beyond 
the sea ; here the youths and maidens danced 
on holidays and crowned their loveliest on the 
first of May, wreathing their May-poles with 
the early green. It was also the parade-ground 
for the soldiers. On Sundays, we can see it 
crowded with the country wagons of all de- 
scriptions, of those who came to worship at the 
church ''within the Fort," the horses being 
turned loose to graze on the hillside running 
down to the water on the site of the present 
Battery. Here, also, was the well, built for the 
use both of the garrison and of the general pub- 
lic. Tradition has affirmed that the site of this 
well was originally a spring, the surplus waters 
of which ran in a little brook down the present 
line of Beaver Street, and contributed to form 
the marsh in the present Broad Street, then 
called *' Blommaert's" Valley. 

Here Governor Van Twiller proved his valor 
and his contempt for the English. An English 
trading vessel came into the bay to trade with 
Indians up the river. One of the sailors de- 
poses that 

"The Dutch here inhabitinge send and com- 
mand all our Companye (excepte one boye) 
to come to their forte, where they staide about 
twoe houres and the Governor commande his 
gunner to make ready three peeces of ordnance 
and shott them off for the Prince of Orange, 
and sprede the Prince's Coloures. Where- 



iSowliUG Gvccn 



169 



upon Jacob Elekins, the merchant's factor of 
the Shippe, the IVilliam, commande William 
Fforde of Lymehouse (the gunner) to go abord 
the Shippe and sprede her coloures and shoote 
off three peeces of ordnance for the Kinge of 
England."^ 

Then Jacob Elekins coolly sailed up the river 
in defiance of the guns of the fort, leaving the 
astonished Governor to meditate on his auda- 
city. Thunderstruck at such an act of temer- 
ity, Van Twiller summoned all the people to 
"The Plaine," then ordering a cask of wine 
and another of beer to be rolled out, he filled 
a glass and called on all good citizens to drink 
a health to the Prince of Orange and confusion 
to the English. 

Here, after two years of a bloody and sav- 
age war with the surrounding Indians, during 
which the island was almost depopulated, the 
farms destroyed, and many adjacent settle- 
ments obliterated, the sachems of all the hos- 
tile tribes assembled August 30, 1645, smoked 
the calumet of peace, and buried the toma- 
hawk, pledging eternal friendship with the 
whites." 

In 1 64 1, Governor Kieft established two an- 
nual fairs for the encouragement of agricul- 
ture, the first for cattle, to begin October 15, 
and the second for hogs, to begin November i. 
These were ordered to be held ''att the mar- 
kett house and plaine afore the forte." This 



Ureatg 
witb tbe 
llnliians 



lyo BowliUG Green 



Bnnuai ^^^^ ^^s the great annual event of the city, 
jfairs forerunner of the Horse Fair and Dog Show. 
We can picture the sturdy burghers and their 
fair vrouws, in all the glory of starched ruffs 
and variegated quilted petticoats, discussing 
the respective merits of their Holsteins and 
hogs. One inducement held out to attract 
strangers was that no one should be liable for 
arrest for debt during the continuance of the 
fair. This must have materially added to the 
number of visitors. 

The peace and quiet of the worthy burgh- 
ers, as indicated by these fairs and social gath- 
erings, were rudely shaken when, early in 
1653, ^ ^^^ having broken out between Eng- 
land and Holland, an invasion from New 
England was threatened. At a General Ses- 
sion of the Councillors held March 13, 1653/ 
it was resolved, 

'' ist. That the whole body of citizens shall 
keep watch by night in such places as shall 
be designated, the City Tavern to be the tem- 
porary headquarters." 

" 2nd. That the fort be repaired." 

"3rd. Because the fort is not large enough 
to contain all the inhabitants, it is deemed 
necessary to enclose the city with palisades 
and breastworks." 

"4th. Some way must be devised to raise 
money." 

" 5th. Captain Vischer is to be requested to 



JBovvling Oreen 



171 



fix his sails, to have his piece loaded, and to 
keep his vessel in readiness." 

(Whether for fight or flight is not said.) 

Evidently not much reliance could have 
been placed upon the palisades, for on July 
28, the Governor sends a missive to the City 
Magistrates, stating that the palisades are 
completed, and requesting them "to keep 
the hogs away from the repaired ramparts of 
the Fort." ' Some years later we find the fol- 
lowing entry : 

''Whereas, the fortifications of this city 
have at great and excessive expense, trouble 
and labor of the Burghery and inhabitants, 
been mostly completed, and it is therefore 
necessary for the preservation of the same 
and better security of this city some orders be 
made, therefore 

'Mttem. It is strictly forbidden and pro- 
hibited, that any person, be he who he may, 
presume to land within this City, or quit the 
same in any other manner, way or means, 
than thro the ordinary City Gate, on paine of 
Death. And finally, as it is found that the 
hogs which are kept within this city in multi- 
tudes along the public streets, have from time 
to time committed great damage on the east- 
ern fortifications, and that the same are most 
certainly to be expected in like manner here 
on the erected works, every one who keeps 
hogs within this city is there ordered and 



Ube 

dfortiflcas 

ttons 



172 



JSowling (Breen 



Dcstrucs 

tion of tbe 

Swc&isb 

3fort 



charged to take care that their hogs shall not 
come to, in or on the Bulwarks, Bastions, 
Gardens or Batteries, under forfeiture of said 
hogs, and double the value thereof, to be ap- 
plied the one half for the informer, the other 
half for the informer who shall put this in exe- 
cution. Every one is hereby warned and put 
on his guard against injury." 

*'By order of the Heer Govnr. Gen. of N. 
Netherlands. 

N. Bayard, Sec'y." 

Fortunately no more serious assaults than 
these from the hogs and from the horns of the 
cattle were made against the palisades, for 
peace was shortly after declared between 
England and Holland, and their colonies had 
to restrain their martial ardor. 

The following year but one was again full 
of fears; for in February, 1655, ^ council of 
war was held to consider a threatened attack 
of the Swedes on the South (Delaware) River. 
It was then "Deemed necessary that the for- 
tifications be repaired " — the cattle probably in 
the meantime having become obstreperous 
and displayed their ferocity against the stock- 
ade — "by spiking with good spikes, a blind 
of planks five or six feet in height against the 
palisades." 

Again was all this precaution useless, for, 
the Swedes not coming, Governor Stuyvesant 
decided to go to them ; and the council of 



Bowling Green 



173 



war, at a special meeting, having applied for 
and obtained "two drummers to improve the 
marching of the militia," the valiant army set 
forth, and returned triumphant, having de- 
stroyed the Swedish fort. Later in this year 
a foray of Indians was made in the surround- 
ing country, and the vigilant magistrates, on 
September 20, resolved "to raise up the pal- 
isades to the height of at least 10 or 12 feet, 
to prevent the overloopen [jumping over] of 
the savages." 

The palisades, or stockade, extended along 
the East River, from near the present head of 
Coenties Slip, on the line of Pearl Street, 
crossing the fields to the North River, on the 
present north side of Wall Street (whence its 
name), and then along the North River to the 
fort, just east of Greenwich Street, which was 
then under water. The map of the city in 
1695 shows the line of the palisades. In 
digging the foundation of the new Bowlmg 
Green Offices, 5-1 1 Broadway, a large num- 
ber of these old posts were found many feet 
under the surface. Although nearly two hun- 
dred and fifty years old, the portions found were 
in a wonderful state of preservation. Canes and 
other mementos have been made from these. 

War's rude alarms for a while having ceased, 
the citizens turned their attention to the im- 
proving of the city. First, a census was taken, 
which showed 120 houses and 1000 inhabit- 



Ube ipalis 

eades 



174 



Bovvling Green 



Cits -ffma 

proves 
ments 



ants. The average price of the best city lots 
was then fifty dollars, while the rent of an av- 
erage good house was fourteen dollars per an- 
num. 

The ditch, which heretofore had run through 
the centre of Broad Street, was sided up with 
boards. Several of the streets were ordered 
paved with stone, whence Stone Street re- 
ceived its name, being one of the first paved 
streets in the city. 

In 1659, an ordinance was passed establish- 
ing a public market on the present Bowling 
Green." 

*'lt is found good and resolved, that for all 
fat cattle brought to the market (not slaugh- 
tered) posts shall be erected by the side of the 
church where those who bring such cattle to 
market for sale shall present them. 

" It is also resolved, that shambles be built, 
a cover be made, and a block brought in, and 
that the key be given to Andries, the baker, 
who shall keep oversight of the same." 

It was at this time made the duty of the 
Sheriff to go around the city at night. He evi- 
dently must have considered this as detracting 
from his dignity, for he officially complains, 
"That the dogs attack him; that the people 
cause frights by halloing * Indian ' in the night, 
and that the boys cut ' koeckies.' " 

For some time the English colonists occu- 
pying the country to the north and the south 



JBowUnG (3reen 



175 



of New Netherland had been restive, and the 
home government was more than willing to 
back up their claims that no rival power 
should separate their possessions, claiming 
that the Dutch occupation was usurpation 
of the English rights. Charles the Second, 
with kingly liberality, granted a patent under 
date of March 12, 1664, to his brother James, 
Duke of York, bestowing upon him the whole 
of New Netherland, and that part of Con- 
necticut lying west of the Connecticut River. 
That he had no right or title in this property 
disturbed him little, he believing, with other 
monarchs of that time, that might made right. 
The King had previously granted to the Earl 
of Sterling the whole of Long Island; in order 
to consolidate his possessions, James bought 
this of him for three hundred pounds, and 
then arranged to send an expedition to take 
formal possession of ail his new territory. 
The utter uselessness of resistance, notwith- 
standing the amount of work and time that 
had been spent upon the fort and palisades, 
was apparent to the Governor's Council and 
the Burgomasters, even if not to the Governor 
himself. In vain Peter Stuyvesant stormed 
around on his wooden leg, endeavoring to 
infuse his own courage into the others. He 
finally, however, was compelled to yield to 
necessity, and on August 26, 1664, the capit- 
ulation was formally agreed upon, New Am- 



"Cbc Cas 

pitulation 

of mew 

Hmsters 

dam 



176 



Uerms of 
Surren&er 



^SowliuG Oreen 



sterdam thenceforth becoming (except for a 
short period when, in 1673, the Dutch retook 
the city and held it for about a year) known 
as New York. The terms of surrender were 
most favorable, it being agreed that the West 
Indies Company should enjoy all their ''fast 
property " except forts, etc. ; the then magis- 
trates were continued in office until future 
election by the people ; the Dutch inhabitants 
were confirmed in their property and liberties. 
There seems little question but that the people 
generally felt that the change of government 
would be for their ultimate good. At any 
rate, they accepted the situation gracefully, 
for a few months after the capitulation the 
magistrates (being the same who had been in 
office at the time of the surrender) sent the 
following petition : ' 

*'To His Royal Highness The Duke of York, 
by the Grace of God, our most Gracious Lord, 
Greeting." 

"\t hath pleased God to bring us under 
your R. H's obediance, wherein we promise 
to conduct ourselves as good subjects are 
bound to do, deeming ourselves fortunate 
that His Highness hath provided us with so 
gentle, wise, and intelligent a gentleman for 
Governor as the Hon. Col. Richard Nichols, 
confident and assured that under the wings 
of this valiant gentleman we shall bloom and 
grow like the Cedar of Lebanon." 



:©owlmo (3reeu 



177 



Assuming that this gracious acceptance of 
the inevitable, in all the rhetorical splendor of its 
mixed metaphor, must soften his heart, they at 
once proceed to request further rights and privi- 
leges, and pray to be relieved from certain on- 
erous imposts and burdens for five or six years. 

*' Doubting not but His Royal Highness 
will at the close of these years learn with 
hearty delight the advancement of this Prov- 
ince, even to a place from which your Royal 
Highness shall come to derive great revenue, 
being then peopled with thousands of fami- 
lies, and having great trade by sea from New 
England and other places out of Europe, Af- 
rica or America."' 

Certainly these Burgomasters, with their 
prophetic souls, could not be accused of any 
old-fashioned ideas as to loyalty and allegiance 
to their past, for in the very next year, in the 
record of the ** proceedings of the Burgomas- 
ters and Schepens," under date of June 24, 
1665, it is recorded: ''This day, after the 
usual ringing of the city-hall bell three times, 
is published a certain proclamation regarding 
the confiscation of the West India Go's ef- 
fects, in consequence of the Company inflict- 
ing all sorts of injury on His Royal Majesty's 
subjects." Thus passed away the last rights 
of the West India Company. 

In 1672, war having been declared by Eng- 
land against Holland, a Dutch fieet appeared 



IRecapture 

of tbe Ctts 

b^ tbe 

©utcb 



178 



Bowling (Breen 



Jftrst 
Cbartcr 
ant) Seal 



in the harbor of New York, and recaptured 
the city on August 9, 1673. The name was 
then changed to New Orange. Only for a 
short period, however, v/ere the Dutch al- 
lowed to retain possession, for the next year 
a treaty of peace was signed between the par- 
ent countries, by the terms of which Surinam 
was given to the Dutch as an equivalent for 
New York !! The city was restored to the 
English, November 10, 1674, and the name 
changed back to New York. Under the sway 
of the English, increased prosperity came to 
the city. Among the privileges granted was 
a monopoly in the bolting of flour and in the 
exportation of sea-biscuit and flour. The im- 
portance of this monopoly, which lasted un- 
til 1694, can hardly be over-estimated, since 
it gave New York a commercial importance 
which it has never since lost. In 1686, under 
Governor Dongan, a charter was granted to 
the city, which still forms the basis of its mu- 
nicipal rights and privileges. At the same 
time a new seal was given which, with the 
substitution of an eagle for a crown and a 
sailor for one of the Indians, is virtually the 
present seal of the city. This seal retained 
the beaver from the old seal of 1623, emblem- 
atic of the city's commercial beginning, and 
added to it the flour-barrel and the arms of a 
wind-mill, as tokens of the prosperity which 
had come to it from the Bolting Act. 



Bowlina Green 



179 



Interesting as it would be to follow the his- 
tory of the city and its gradual progress to- 
wards its present condition, space compels us 
to confine ourselves more especially to those 
events and changes which show the evolu- 
tion of the Bowling Green and its immediate 
neighborhood. The lower part of Broadway, 
facing Bowling Green, in common with that 
upon the east-side, was simply designated as 
"The Market-field." Afterwards, it received 
the name of the " Heere Straat," or principal 
street, and later the name "Broad Way." 
Grants of lots were first made, and deeds 
given, in 1642. Until then settlers had been 
allowed to occupy land as they saw fit, and 
lines and boundaries were established by 
chance, or according to each one's own sweet 
will. 

In 1643, the first lot granted on "De Heere 
Straat " was deeded to Martin Cregier. It was 
thus described (translated from the Dutch) : * 

" Grant to Marten Cregier, 1643. ^ot for a 
house and garden lying north of the Fort, ex- 
tending from the house, about west, nine rods 
two feet ; towards the fort, south, six rods 
nine feet. Again about east, with a great 
out-point, fourteen rods six feet ; further, to 
the place of beginning, four rods five feet. 
Amounting, in an uneven, four-sided figure, 
to eighty-six rods three feet." This lot is 
now known as numbers 9 and 1 1 Broadway, 



ffiret 
(Brants 
of Hots 



i8o 



Bowling Gveen 



mvBt Hts 

tempts to 
^ir Xines 

aSoun&s 
aries 



being part of the land upon which the Bowl- 
ing Green Offices are built. 

The city fathers, in their later attempt to lay 
out the city, and to fix lines and boundaries, in 
April, 1744, "Ordered: That the owners of the 
houses between Mr. Chambers and Mr. De- 
peysters corner house, by the Bowling Green, 
have liberty to range their fronts in such 
manner as the Alderman and Assistant of the 
West Ward may think proper." " And again, 
in May of the next year, they 

"Ordered: That a straight line be drawn 
from the south corner of the house of Mr. 
Augustus Jay, now in the occupation of Peter 
Warren, Esquire, to the north Corner of the 
house of Archibald Kennedy, fronting the 
Bowling Green in the Broad Way, and that 
Mr. William Smith, who is now about to 
build a house (and all other persons who 
shall build between the two houses) lay their 
foundations and build conformably to the 
aforesaid straight line." 

The liberty given to the owners of the 
houses by the ordinance of 1744, "to range 
their fronts " as might be thought proper, was 
so thoroughly availed of that even until the 
present time, one hundred and fifty years af- 
ter, no attention has been paid to the later 
order of 1745, for the buildings pulled down 
in 1895, to make room for the new Bowling 
Green Offices, were very far from being on 



JSowling Green 



ibi 



a line, and the few buildings still remaining to 
the north, towards Morris Street, do not even 
yet front on a straight line. A view taken in 
1835, shows the projecting edges of the houses. 
A map of the city in 1695, shows that the 
waters of the North River came beyond the 
present eastern side of Greenwich Street. A 
later map shows how the city has been gradu- 
ally extended, the dotted lines marking the 
water-line at various periods. 

In 1723, the city offered for sale the lands 
between high and low- water mark, "from 
the house of Mr. Gaasbeck near the fort to the 
green trees, commonly called the locust trees, 
near the English Church," '" or from the pres- 
ent Battery to Rector Street. In 1729, it was 
ordered: "For the better utility of trade and 
commerce, and increasing the buildings within 
the city, and improving the revenue of the 
corporation," that two streets should be sur- 
veyed and laid out along the Hudson River, 
one street of forty feet in width at high-water 
mark, and the other of thirty feet in width at 
low-water mark; the high-water mark to be 
the centre of one street, and the low-water 
mark to be the centre of the other." These 
streets are the present Greenwich and Wash- 
ington Streets, the former deriving its name 
from its being an extension of a lane which 
led to Greenwich Village. Notwithstanding 
the "order," it was some years before any- 



Decrees 



l82 



Bowling Green 



Xeasfn^ 
ot Sowls 
ing Ovcen 



thing was done towards filling in the land and 
opening these streets, for on a map as late as 
1755, these streets are not shown as existing 
at their southern end. 

In March, 1732, the then city fathers" 
''Resolved, that this Corporation will lease 
a piece of land lying at the lower end of Broad- 
way, fronting to the Fort, to some of the in- 
habitants of the said Broadway, in order to 
be inclosed to make a Bowling-Green thereof, 
with walks therein, for the beauty and orna- 
ment of said street, as well as for the recrea- 
tion and delight of the inhabitants of the city, 
leaving the Street on each side thereof 50 ft. in 
breadth." 

Three public-spirited and sport-loving citi- 
zens, John Chambers, Peter Bayard, and Peter 
Jay, — may their names be placed upon the 
roll of the worthy, — hired, in accordance with 
this resolution, this ground, theretofore called 
''The Plaine," and later, "The Parade," for a 
term of eleven years, at the enormous rent of 
one peppercorn per annum, and prepared it 
for the sport of bowls. Let us hope they did 
not charge too much per game to recoup them- 
selves. As this lease neared its termination, 
it was ordered that it be renewed for eleven 
years, on payment of twenty shillings per an- 
num, the lessees being John Chambers, Colo- 
nel Phillipse, and John Roosevelt. We are not 
told what happened at the expiration of this 



JSowliuo (3reen 



183 



lease, whether they demanded a reduction of 
rent, and failing to obtain it abandoned the 
Green, or whether other sports became the fad 
of the ultra-fashionables, whose houses then 
surrounded the Green. 

In a map of 1763, we find Greenwich Street 
has been opened, the Bowling Green being 
then laid down in the shape of a triangle. 
The land beside the Fort, on the east and 
west side, was anciently called '*T' Marck- 
velt," or " The Market-field," from its vicinity 
to the markets then held on the ''Plaine," or 
Bowling Green. The portion on the east is 
now Whitehall Street. The name *' Market- 
field," however, remains in connection with 
the small street originally running from White- 
hall to Broad, formerly called ''Petticoat Lane," 
a part of which has since been obliterated to 
make room for the present Produce Exchange. 
The name ''Whitehall" originated in a large 
storehouse on the corner of Whitehall and 
State Streets, built by Peter Stuyvesant, after- 
wards falling into the hands of Governor Don- 
gan, who named it the "White Hall." This 
subsequently, for a little while, became the 
custom-house of the city, which later was 
moved to number i Broadway.'' 

This plot of land, i Broadway, had origi- 
nally been owned by a widow, Annetje 
Kocks. In 1760, Captain Kennedy, afterwards 
Earl of Cassilis, built on this corner a mansion. 



[petticoat 
!iLane 



1 84 



Bowlina 6reen 



Ube 



(ngton 



which was destined to be famous for many 
years. The garden in its rear extended to the 
Hudson River. Captain Kennedy, returning to 
England prior to the Revolution, left the prop- 
erty to his son Robert, from whom it passed 
to the late Nathaniel Prime, a leading banker 
of the city. In the spring of 1776, General 
Lee, and afterward General Putnam, occu- 
pied this house as their headquarters, and, for 
a time, Washington.'' During the occupancy 
of the city by the English, Sir Guy Carleton 
and other British officers lived here. Mr. 
Isaac Sears, one of the prominent ** Liberty 
Boys," lived in it subsequent to the Revolu- 
tion. He was commonly called *'King Sears," 
and his daughters ''The Princesses." After- 
ward, it v/as taken by Mrs. Graham for a 
girls' school, and later was known as the best 
boarding-house in the city. For many years 
it was called the Washington Inn. In 1882, 
it was torn down, and the present struc- 
ture known as the Washington Building 
was erected by Cyrus Field, to whose per- 
severance and skill was due the laying of 
the first Atlantic cable. After the land at 
the rear of these houses was extended, a house 
was built in what had been the garden 
of the Kennedy house, in which Robert 
Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat, lived 
and died. At number 3 Broadway, John 
Watts, one of the Governor's Council, lived; 



.IBowliuo (Brecu 



185 



his daughter was the wife of Archibald 
Kennedy.'* 

Next to this was the property of Martin 
Cregier, already referred to. This same Mar- 
tin Cregier was a notable citizen. He was by 
turns an Indian trader, sloop owner, and mas- 
ter. In 1648, he was appointed one of the 
first four Fire Wardens. He commanded an 
expedition against the Swedes on the Dela- 
ware River, and, in 1663, against the Esopus 
Indians." He was Captain of the *'Burgh- 
ery," or citizens' company, in all of which oc- 
cupations he must have been successful, for, 
in 1659, we find he built upon his lot a tav- 
ern, which soon became a place of fashionable 
resort, the Delmonico or Waldorf-Astoria of 
the time. Fortune favored him, as before, for, 
in 1673, during the temporary recapture of the 
city by the Dutch, at a meeting of the " Val- 
iant Council of War," an order was passed 
calling for the nomination of six persons as 
Burgomasters. ''To wit : from the Wealthi- 
est Inhabitants and those only who are of the 
Reformed Christian Religion." Cregier, fulfill- 
ing all these requirements, was duly elected, 
further proving that tavern-keeping was 
equally prosperous then as now, and not in- 
consistent with religious profession. In 1654, 
we find that a new seal having been granted 
to the city, it was publicly delivered Decem- 
ber 8, by the Director to Martin Cregier, pre- 



/IDartin 

Cvegier 



i86 



i^ovvltna (Breen 



3Burn6' 
Coffee 
Ibouse 



siding Burgomaster. (The salary of Burgo- 
master was three hundred and fifty guilders 
— when it was paid!) '' In 1674, we find him 
superintending the fortifications, in anticipa- 
tion of the coming of the English force. 
Whether his Dutch blood resented the final 
capture of the city by the English, or whether 
new and more modern taverns eclipsed his 
own and took his custom, we are not told; 
but we find that later he abandoned New 
York, and with his family moved to the banks 
of the Mohawk, then on the very frontiers, 
where he died, in 17 13, nearly a century old. 

As Cregier's Tavern became old and behind 
the times, a new building was erected, which 
afterward bore the name of ''King's Arms 
Tavern," and at the time of the Revolution 
was tamiliarly called ''Burns' Coffee House." 
It was among the few buildings that escaped 
the fires of 1776 and 1845. As late as i860, the 
same building was still standing, bearing the 
title of "The Atlantic Garden." This is re- 
markable as being only the second structure 
to occupy the site since the foundation of the 
city. Almost until the present time the gar- 
den connected with this property has fur- 
nished a place for popular amusement. In 
Parker's Post Boy of May 27, 1762, appears 
the following notice : 

"This is to give Notice, to all Gentlemen 
and Ladies, Lovers and Encouragers of Mu- 



Bovvlina Ovccn 187 



sick. That this day will be opened, by Messrs. Kums' 
Leonard & Dienval, Musick Masters, of this ^^^^ 
city, at Mr. Burnes' Room, near the Battery, 
a public and weekly Concert of Musick. Tick- 
ets, four shillings." 

*'N. B. The concert is to begin exactly at 
8 o'clock, and end at ten, on account of the 
coolness of the evening. No Body will be 
admitted without tickets, nor no money will 
be taken at the door." 

In the next year, 1763, a Mrs. Steel, who 
had kept the King's Arms Tavern in Broad 
Street (the most noted tavern in the city for 
thirty years), removed to this house, carrying 
with her the name of her old place. The an- 
nouncement is thus made in the Post ^Boy : 
"Mrs. Steel, Takes this method to acquaint 
her Friends and Customers, That the King's 
Arms Tavern, which she formerly kept oppo- 
site the Exchange, she hath now removed 
into Broadway (the lower end opposite the 
Fort), a more commodious house, where she 
will not only have it in her power to accom- 
modate gentlemen with conveniences requi- 
site as a tavern, but also, with genteel lodging 
apartments, which she doubts not will give 
satisfaction to every one who will be pleased 
to give her that honour." 

Mrs. Steel's move must have been an unfor- 
tunate one, for, in 1765, we fmd Burns again in 
control (perhaps he married the widow), and 



1 88 BowltuG Green 



ubc from then on the place seems to have been 
stamp known as '' Burns' Coffee House." 

Set 

On October 31, 1765, a meeting of the mer- 
chants of the city was called at Burns' Coffee 
House, in order to express their opposition to 
the Stamp Act. Here they passed and signed 
the first non-importation agreement of the col- 
onies. Over two hundred merchants signed 
the resolutions, thus securing for New York 
the credit of being the first to sacrifice its 
commercial interests to the cause of liberty. 
At this meeting a non-importation association 
was also organized, and a committee ap- 
pointed to correspond with the other colo- 
nies, with a view to the universal adoption 
of similar measures. In the morning of the 
next day, November i, when the Stamp Act 
was to go into effect, handbills mysteriously 
appeared throughout the city, forbidding any 
one, at his peril, to use the stamped paper. 

In the evening two companies, largely com- 
posed of the Sons of Liberty, whose headquar- 
ters were at Burns' Coffee House, appeared in 
the streets. The first company proceeded to 
the ''fields," or common (City Hall Park), 
where they erected a gallows and suspended 
thereon an effigy of Lieutenant-Governor Col- 
den, with the stamped paper in his hand, a 
drum at his back, and by his side they hung 
an effigy of the devil with a boot in his hand. 
The other company, with another effigy of 



ifSowltn^ Green 



Golden seated in a chair, broke open his 
stable, and taking out his chariot placed the 
effigy in it, and then, joining the other com- 
pany, both proceeded to the fort, strictest 
orders having been given that not a word 
should be spoken or a stone thrown. On ar- 
riving at the Bowling Green, they found the 
soldiers drawn up on the ramparts of the 
fort, and the muzzles of the cannon pointed 
toward them. General Gage, who was then 
the British commander, prudently refrained 
from firing upon the mob, knowing well that 
the first volley would be followed by the 
instant destruction of the Fort. The people 
having been refused admission to the Fort, 
tore down the wooden fence about the Bowl- 
ing Green, kindled a fire there, and burned 
the carriage, gallows, effigies, and all. 

The odious Stamp Act was finally repealed 
on February 20, 1766. This action of the 
ministry was received with the wildest en- 
thusiasm. The whole city was illuminated, 
special bonfires being kindled on the Bowling 
Green. For a time this action of the home 
government aroused the enthusiasm of the 
populace, and on June 23, another meeting 
was held at Burns' Coffee House, petitioning 
the Assembly to erect a statue in honor of 
William Pitt, and also an equestrian statue of 
George the Third. On August 21, 1770, the 
statue of George the Third having arrived 



statue of 

(George tbe 

Ubirb 



IQO 



:BowlinG (3reen 



Destrucs 

tfon of tbe 

Statue 



from England, it was placed in the centre of 
Bowling Green amid the general acclamation 
of the people. In November, it was ordered 
"That a temporary fence be forthwith made 
around the Bowling Green, of posts and rails 
not to exceed five rails high." The following 
year, 1771, it was ordered: ''Whereas the 
General Assembly of this Province have been 
at the great expense of sending for an eques- 
trian statue of his present majesty [George 
III.], and erected the same on the Bowling 
Green, before his majesty's fort in this city, 
and this Board, conceiving, that unless the 
said Green be fenced in, the same will very 
soon became a receptacle for all the filth and 
dirt of the neighborhood, in order to prevent 
which, it is ordered that the same be fenced 
with iron rails, in a stone foundation, at an 
expense of ^800." This fence and the orig- 
inal stones still surround the Green, the crowns 
which originally ornamented the tops of the 
pillars having been broken off. 

At the breaking out of the Revolution, to 
celebrate the news of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, this statue was dragged from its 
pedestal, and drawn through the streets. It 
was then sent to Litchfield, the residence of 
Oliver Wolcott, Governor of Connecticut, by 
whose wife and daughter it was run into 
42,000 bullets, *'to assimilate with the brains 
of the adversary." Subsequently, during the 



JBovvltna 6reen 



191 



invasion of Connecticut by Governor Tryon, 
over four hundred British soldiers were killed, 
probably by this very lead. The pedestal of 
the statue remained standing for some time 
longer, as is shown in a contemporaneous 
print of the Bowling Green at the time of the 
Revolution. 

On August 26, 1776, the city was captured 
by the English. Shortly after the occupancy 
of the British a great fire occurred, destroying 
four hundred and ninety-two houses, nearly 
one eighth of the entire city. The houses 
at the lower end of Broadway, facing Bowling 
Green on the west side, were saved. 

The Green again welcomed the joyous and 
exultant crowds who there gathered to see the 
final evacuation of the city by the British on 
November 25, 1783. Before leaving, the 
English had nailed their defeated colors to the 
flag-pole which stood near, and in the hope of 
preventing the immediate raising of the stars 
and stripes, had thoroughly greased the pole. 
Captain John Van Arsdale, however, quickly 
managed to climb the pole, and in sight of the 
departing troops flung our flag to the breeze. 
Ever since then it has been the custom for one 
of his descendants, on the morning of Evacua- 
tion Day, to raise the flag on the present lib- 
erty pole in the park. 

. A map of Brooklyn, drawn by General 
Jeremiah Johnson about this time, is curious, 



Evacuas 
tion of tbc 

tbe 3Brits 
isb 



192 



JBowliUG Ovccn 



^Bowling 
©reen 

!ltease& to 
Cbans 
cellor 

Uivtngston 



as indicating a fact whicli probably is unknown 
to most New Yorkers: that Governor's Island 
was at one time used as a race-track. 

On the adoption of the new constitution by 
the State of New York, the event was cele- 
brated by a ''wonderful" procession, which 
was reviewed by Washington and other nota- 
bles, from the ramparts of the Fort, as it cir- 
cled around the Bowling Green. One of the 
principal floats in this procession was an enor- 
mous ship named Hamilton, which at the 
close of the procession was deposited in the 
Green. This required, in 1789, the appoint- 
ment of a committee "to remove the Federal 
Ship out of the Bowling Green, to have the 
fence repaired, and to let out the Bowling 
Green." 

Three years before this, in 1786, there is re- 
corded a request of Mr. Daniel Ludlow. 

"That he may be permitted to have the 
care and use of the Bowling Green, at the 
lower end of the Broad Way, for two years, he 
being willing, at his own expense, to manure 
the ground, and sow the same with proper 
grass seed, and have it well laid down as a 
green ; and a request of Mr. Chancellor Liv- 
ingston, that the direction and use of the said 
Bowling Green may be granted to him, were 
respectively read. Ordered, That the direc- 
tion and use of the said Bowling Green, be 
granted to Mr. Chancellor Livingston, on the 



Bowlino (5reen 



193 



terms offered by Mr. Ludlow." Evidently, 
Mr. Chancellor Livingston had "a pull." 

In 1 79 1, the street committee reported 
''That in their opinion the Bowling Green, 
in front of the Government House, ought to 
be preserved, and that it will be necessary the 
fence should be raised in proportion to the reg- 
ulation of Broadway. Agreed to." In 1795, 
it was "Ordered, — that the inclosed ground, 
commonly called the Bowling Green, in front 
of the Government House, be appropriated to 
the use of the Governor, for the time being." 
Notwithstanding the fact that it had been thus 
set aside for the use of the Governor, in this 
same year, on July 18, the sanctity of the Green 
was invaded by a tumultuous crowd of citizens 
who had just held a public meeting to express 
their opposition to the treaty with England, 
which had recently been concluded by John 
Jay. At this meeting, which had been ad- 
dressed by Aaron Burr and Chancellor Liv- 
ingston, some one moved that they should 
adjourn to the Bowling Green and burn the 
treaty. This was done, the band playing 
the "Carmagnole," — the French and American 
flags being bound together, — the treaty having 
been considered by many as a repudiation of 
our indebtedness to France. 

The Governor did not seem to appreciate the 
advantages of the Bowling Green, or perhaps 
he was not able to preserve its privacy, for, in 



Ube 

©recn 
Set asiSe 
tor tbe TUsc 

of tbe 
©overnor 



194 



BowliuG <3reen 



Desttucs 

tion of tbe 

ifort 



1798, we find that it was ordered ''That Mr. 
John Rogers may have the use of the Bowling 
Green, on condition that he keep it in good 
order, and suffer no creatures to run in it." 

In a map of 1797, the Bowling Green has 
assumed its present shape, the fort has dis- 
appeared, the Government House, above re- 
ferred to, occupying its site, the Battery has 
been extended, but even yet the ** order" 
given seventy years before for the laying out 
of additional streets, had not been complied 
with except as to Greenwich Street, showing 
that municipal progress was not much more 
rapid at that time than now. The destruction 
of the Fort seems to have been determined 
upon in 1789, when, by act of the Legislature, 
" The ground at the Fort and the Battery was 
reserved for the public use and for continuing 
the Broad Way through to the river." This 
last was never done. 

In 1790, it was ** Ordered, that Messrs. Tor- 
boss, Van Zant and George Janeway, be ap- 
pointed commissioners to superintend the 
taking down the stone and removing the 
earth of the Fort." The earth thus removed 
was used to enlarge the area of the Battery 
''from Eli's corner to the Flat Rock." When 
the Fort was torn down, a vault, which had 
been sealed up under the chapel, was uncov- 
ered. In this were the remains of Lord Bella- 
mont, members of his family, and some others. 



JSowUng (3rcen 



195 



Lord Bellamont's family was distinguished by 
the silver plates bearing the family escutcheon, 
let into the lead coffins. The coffins and bones 
were buried in an unmarked grave in St. Paul's 
churchyard. Mr. Van Zant, one of the com- 
missioners, secured the silver plates, intending 
to preserve them, but after his death they were 
converted into spoons. 

The Battery, which has retained nothing 
whatever suggestive of its warlike origin ex- 
cept the name, owes its beginning to the fol- 
lowing order. In 1693, the then Governor 
made the following proclamation: " 

** Whereas there is actual warr between 
our Sovereign Lord and Lady the King and 
Queen, and the French King; and I am in- 
formed of a Squadron of Ships and land 
forces, intended from France to invade this 
Citty and Province ; and whereas, for the 
safety and preservation thereof, I fmde itt of 
absolute necessity to make a platforme upon 
the outmost pointe of rocks under the Fort, 
whereon I intend to build a battery to com- 
mand both rivers; I have therefore thought 
fitte, and doe hereby require you, the Mayor, 
Recorder and Aldermen of the Citty of New 
York and Manning and Barnes Island, to cut 
down 86 cordes of stockades, of 12 feet in 
length, and to have them in readiness to be 
conveyed to New York. 

(Signed) " Benj. Fletcher." 



©rigin of 

tbe 
3Batters 



196 



JSowliuG Green 



Ube 
ffiatters 



The rocks upon which the Battery was built 
were called Capske Rocks. These works were 
then known as the Whitehall Battery, and 
from this time on, until the close of the Revo- 
lutionary War, various additions were made 
thereto, and later, somewhere about the be- 
ginning of the present century, there was 
built what was known as the Southwest Bat- 
tery, some three hundred feet or more from 
the shore, the approach to which was by 
means of a bridge with a draw. This later 
was called *' Castle Clinton." In the year 
1822, upon the Federal government taking 
possession of Governor's Island, Castle Clin- 
ton was ceded to the city. It was then pro- 
posed that this and the former Battery, and 
the grounds included between, should be 
made into a public park, Castle Clinton being 
turned into a public assembly-room, and 
called Castle Garden, afterwards to be made 
famous by Jenny Lind's first concert, Septem- 
ber 12, 1850. 

On Lafayette's return to America, in 1824, 
"a splendid fete and gala was given to him 
at Castle Garden, on September 14, which for 
grandeur, expense, and entire effect was 
never before witnessed in this country. About 
six thousand persons were assembled in that 
immense area, and the evening being clear and 
calm, the whole passed off happily, owing to 
the excellent arrangementsof the committee.'"® 



JBovvlina (3reen 197 

On December 5, 1851, the Hungarian hero, caatic 
Louis Kossuth, arrived, and was received at ^^"^^^'^ 
Castle Garden, after which he was escorted 
to his hotel by a procession, which for years 
was famous for its size and enthusiasm. For 
nearly forty years, beginning in 1855, this 
building was used as the emigrants' landing- 
place and depot, and later was transformed 
into a public aquarium. 

For many years the Battery was the city's 
parade-ground. Here, in the heyday of their 
popularity, the Pulaski Cadets, the Light 
Guard, the red-coated City Guards, and the 
Tompkins Blues went through their elaborate 
manoeuvres, before the admiring gaze of the 
citizens grouped in surrounding windows and 
on the walks. Here, also, the Blue Stockings 
and the Red Stockings vied for championship 
in the national game. 

In his Diary, Philip Hone writes: 

'*<^pril 75^ 1834. — This was the day of the 
Great Fete at Castle Garden, to celebrate the 
triumph gained by the Whig Party in the late 
Charter election in this city, and it went off 
gloriously. Tables were spread in a double 
row within the outer circumference. Three 
pipes of wine and 40 barrels of beer were 
placed in the centre under an awning, and 
served out during the repast." '^ 

''Monday, October the 2yth, 1834, — The 
Jackson men marched down to Castle Garden, 



JSowlinG areen 



Caetle 

<5ai"6en 



where a feast (not of reason) was prepared, and 
a flow of whiskey (not of soul) was served out 
gratuitously to the well drilled troops of the 
Regency. They fired guns and exhibited fire 
works, and all in the way of rejoicing for vic- 
tories not won, or rather ' to keep their spirits 
up by pouring spirits down.' " '" 

'' iAprilthe loth, /5j5.— The weather being 
fine and spring-like, I walked for an hour with 
my wife on the battery. Strange as it is, I do 
not think that either of us had done such a thing 
in the last seven years, and what a wonderful 
spot it is. The grounds are in fine order. The 
noble bay, with the opposite shores of New 
Jersey, Staten and Long Islands, vessels of 
every description, from the noble, well-ap- 
pointed Liverpool packet, to the little market 
craft and steamers arriving from every point, 
give life and animation to a prospect unex- 
celled by any city in the world. It would be 
well worth travelling loo miles out of one's 
way in a foreign country to get a sight of, 
and yet we citizens of New York, who have 
it all under our noses seldom enjoy it. Like 
all other enjoyments, it loses its value from 
being too easily obtained." '^ 

In a very rare book of letters, written in 
1793, by Governor Drayton, of Carolina, he 
writes: ''At the lower end of Broadway is 
the Battery, and public parade: . . . be- 
tween the guns and the water is a public 



JSovvlinG (3reen 



199 



walk, made by a gentle decline from the plat- 
form; . . . some little distance behind 
the guns two rows of elm trees are planted; 
which in a short time will afford an agreeable 
shade; . . . the back part of the ground 
is laid out in smaller walks, terraces, and a 
bowling green." 

''Overlooking this prospect, is the Govern- 
ment House; plac'd upon an handsome eleva- 
tion, and fronting Broadway, having before it 
an elegant elliptical approach, round an area of 
near an acre of ground, enclosed by an iron rail- 
ing. In the midst of this is a pedastal, which for- 
merly was pressed by a leaden equestrian statue 
of the King of Great Britain ; but having been 
dismantled of that, for the use of the continen- 
tal army, it now remains ready, in due time I 
hope, to receive the statue of the President of 
the United States of America. When that pe- 
riod shall arrive, in addition to the many daily 
occurrences which lead the mind of the pas- 
senger to pensive reflection; this monument 
of his country's gratitude shall call his atten- 
tion ; and while deeds of former times, shall 
pass in sweet review before him, the tear 
shall lament the loss of an hero — but the heart 
collected within itself, shall urge him by so 
bright an example, to call forth his powers 
and to pursue the steps of virtue and of 
honor." 

"... The Government House is two 



Ube 
:©attecs 



:!6o\vlmG (Breen 



Governs 
ment 
tbousc 



Stories high. Projecting before it is a portico, 
covered by a pediment; upon which is su- 
perbly carved in basso relievo, the arms of 
the State, supported by justice and liberty, as 
large as life. The arms and figures are white, 
placed in a blue field; and the pediment is 
supported by four white pillars of the Ionic 
order, which are the height of both stories." 

The Government House herein referred to 
was built upon a part of the land occupied by 
the Fort. As we have already seen, it was in 
1790 that the Fort was taken down, and shortly 
afterward this house was erected for the use 
of Washington. Afterward, Governors Clinton 
and Jay both lived in it, and at one time it was 
used as a Custom-House." 

We can find no record showing when the 
Fort and the adjacent land passed from under 
the control of the City to that of the Province, 
and thence to the State. It was by an act of 
the Legislature, not of the City Council, that, in 
1790, the Fort was destroyed and the Govern- 
ment House built. On May 26, 1812, an act 
was passed: 

''Be it enacted by the people of the State 
of New York, represented in Senate and As- 
sembly, that the Comptroller is hereby author- 
ized to sell and convey in fee simple, all the 
right, title and interest of the people of this 
state in and to the Government House and the 
grounds adjoining, in the city of New York, 



Bowliua Oreen 



to the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of 
the said city, for a sum not less than fifty 
thousand dollars, and to receive in payment 
therefor, the bond of the said mayor, alder- 
men and commonalty, payable in ten years, 
with interest annually, at the rate of six per 
centum : 

"Provided always, That the said corpora- 
tion shall not have the right of selling the said 
grounds for the erection of private buildings, 
or other individual purposes." 

The city authorities evidently did not pro- 
pose to be limited in their rights, nor to pay a 
round sum of money for land which they could 
not realize upon, however cheap it might seem. 
They refused to avail themselves of the option 
to purchase, so on April 13, 18 13, another act 
was passed: *' Be it further enacted. That the 
proviso to the enacting clause of the act enti- 
tled ' An act to authorize the sale of certain 
public property 'm the city of New York,' 
passed the 26th of May 1812, be and the same 
is hereby repealed, and that if the mayor, al- 
dermen and commonalty of New York shall 
not, by the first day of November next, pur- 
chase the Government House and lands ad- 
joining, then the authority given to the 
comptroller in and by said act to sell the 
said house and land shall cease." 

This threat seems to have supplied the nec- 
essary fillip, and suggested a chance for specu- 



©overns 
ment 
"BDouse 



JSowliuG Ovccn 



Sale of 

tbe 

©overns 

ment 

'fi3ou0e 



lation, for under date of August 2, 18 13, the 
Comptroller of the State ** conveyed to the 
said Mayor, &c., all the certain messuage and 
lot of ground situate in the First Ward of the 
city of New York, commonly known by the 
name of the Government House and lot. Sub- 
ject to a lease of the Government House to 
DeWitt Clinton and others, made pursuant to 
section 34 of the act of 29 March, 1809, which 
does not expire until the ist of May, 181 5." 
As soon as the lease expired, the city hastened 
to ''bag its profit," selling the land and giving 
title thereto on June 19, 1815, for about double 
what they were under bond to pay, and before 
they had paid out anything whatever. Some 
time during this year the Government House 
is said to have been destroyed by fire. 

The land facing on the Green was sold in 
seven parcels or lots, each being about thirty- 
one feet front and one hundred and thirty feet 
in depth, except the one on the northeast, at 
the corner of Whitehall Street, which was only 
four feet on the front and twenty-three feet 
wide in the rear. The original grantees were : 

Lot I. (Northwest corner.) 

Deeded to Noah Brown. 
1825 to 1 86 1, owned by Stephen Whitney. 
1888 "present, " " U. S. Trust Company. 

Lot. 2. Deeded to Abijah Weston. 
1834 to 1887, owned by Elisha Riggs. 
1887 " present, " " J. L. Cadwalader. 



JSowlina (3reen 



203 



Lot 3. Deeded to Elbert Anderson. 
1 82 1 to 1829, owned by Samuel Ward, Jr. 
1829 *' 1853, " ** Andrew Foster. 
1854 ** present, *' '' Cornelius Vander- 
bilt, et al. 

Lot 4. Deeded to Elbert Anderson. 
1823 to 1829, owned by Herman Le Roy. 
1829 '' 1852, " ** Lewis Curtis. 
1862 ** present, " *' A. Hemenway, etal., 
trustees, etc. 

Lot 5. Deeded to James Byers. 
1838 to 1883, owned by Ferdinand Suydam, 

et al., trustees, etc. 
1883 to present, owned by Theodore Chiches- 
ter. 

Lot 6. Deeded to Peter Remsen. 
1840 to 1855, owned by W. E. Wilmerding. 
1 87 1 ** present, ** *' Herman C. Von Post. 

Lot 7. {Northeast corner.) 
Deeded to John Hone. 

Hone was the only original owner who re- 
tained his lot more than a year or so. He 
sold it in i860 to W. B. Cooper, in whose fam- 
ily it still remains. 

From the earliest days of the city, when the 
Governor lived within the Fort, later, when 
the Government House occupied this same 
site, and afterwards, when this land became 
private property, this locality, and the imme- 
diate neighborhood, was the most select and 
fashionable part of the city. As the natural 



Grantees 



204 Bowling Oreen 

steams growth of the city and the encroachment of 
^^^„ business drove private residences farther and 
farther northward, this particular row of 
houses facing the Green preserved their in- 
dividual characteristics, and were used as 
dwellings. They still retain their exterior ap- 
pearance, though they have ceased to be so 
used. They are now occupied by the offices 
of the large foreign steamship companies, 
which has given them the name of '* Steam- 
ship Row." Some years ago it was ordered 
by Congress that this land should be bought 
and the United States Custom-House be built 
here. Opposition and litigation have until 
now prevented, but at last it seems likely that 
this project will be accomplished, and this 
land, which had always been public property 
until 1815, and upon which the old Custom- 
House had been for a time, will again become 
the property of the public, and in place of a 
Fort — emblem of strife and distrust among na- 
tions — a Custom-House, suggestive of peaceful 
intercourse and friendly commerce, will be 
built, worthy of the nation and of the city. 

The land on the east of the Green, where 
the Produce Exchange now stands, was first 
granted to individuals about 1646. Among 
the first owners were Jonas Barteltzen and 
Frerick Arenzen. The latter owned the land on 
the southwest corner of Whitehall and what 
was then Marketfield Streets. AUard Anthony, 



iBowliuG Green 



205 



one of the most prominent citizens of his day, 
lived on the opposite corner. Roelof Jansen 
Haas owned the land to the corner of Beaver 
Street." The southern portion of the Produce 
Exchange land was forfeited to the people of 
the State at the time of the Revolution, by the 
attainders of Beverly Robinson and Frederick 
Philipse. The Legislature, on May 12, 1784, 
passed ''An Act for the speedy sale of the 
confiscated and forfeited estates within this 
State." Isaac Stoutenburg and Philip Van 
Cortlandt, the commissioners appointed under 
this act, sold the land. In 1880, the Legislature 
passed a special act authorizing the closing 
up of Marketfield Street, and deeding it to the 
Produce Exchange. 

We have already referred to some of the 
earlier occupants of the properties now known 
as numbers 1 to 1 1 Broadway. In the house 
standing on what is now 9 Broadway, Bene- 
dict Arnold, after the capture of Andre and the 
exposure of his treachery, had his quarters." 
It was while here that Sergeant John Champe 
attempted to capture him. The garden at the 
rear of the house sloped down to the river, 
and a party of patriots were to land here from 
a boat, and, having secured, carry him away. 
The very day of the attempt Arnold moved his 
quarters, it was never known whether simply 
by accident, or from disclosure of the plot. 
Washington Irving lived around the corner, 



Iprobuce 
lEfCbange 



2o6 



JSowling (Breen 



Cbanges 

aroun^ 

tbe (Srcen 



on State Street, and near him Mr. Howland, 
long one of the most prominent shipping- 
merchants of the city." James K. Paulding, 
a descendant of one of the captors of Major 
Andre, and who afterward became Secretary 
of the Navy under Van Buren, one of the au- 
thors of Salmagundi, lived on the same block, 
at 29 Whitehall Street. 

While all these changes have been going 
on around it, the Green has quietly, and with 
the proud conservatism of age, preserved its 
own dignified existence. Always ready to 
give itself to the public, whether for play or 
rest, in peace or war, it has been the centre 
of the busy life of the village, of the fashion- 
able life of the town, and now of the com- 
mercial activity of the city. The Produce 
Exchange, controlling the grain trade of a con- 
tinent, looks down upon it. The offices of 
the largest steamship companies of the world 
surround it. The Custom-House, registering 
the commerce of the Western Hemisphere, 
will face it. Some of the greatest modern 
office buildings, overtopping the spire of ** Old 
Trinity," hem it in. Broadway, the longest 
street in the world, starts from its oval. In 
this year of grace, 1898, New York has greatly 
enlarged its borders; the city of Brooklyn 
and many of the surrounding townships hav- 
ing united in the one city now called colloqui- 
ally ' * Greater New York. " Of this new city our 



Bowling Green 



207 



little friend, the Bowling Green, has become 
the heart. It is the geographical centre of the 
enlarged metropolis. 



Changes 

arounS 

tbe ©reen 



208 


Bowlina Otccn 






REFERENCES. 




IRcfcrences 


I 


Peter Fauconnier's Survey Book, 1715-34. 






2 


Documents relating to Colonial History of New 
(edited by E. B. O'Callaghan), i., p. 74. 


ror;^ 




3 


Booth's History of New York, p. 122. 






4 


Records of New Amsterdam, i., p. 65. 






5 


Ibid., i., p. 90. 






6 


Ibid. 






7 


Valentine's '/yz5/o;7, p. 161. 






8 


Valentine's Manual, 1857, p. 498. 






9 


English Records. 






10 


Valentine's History, p. 287. 






1 1 


English Records. 






12 


Valentine's History, p. 285. 






13 


Booth's History, p. 490. 






«4 


Lamb's History, p. 98. 






'5 


Valentine's History, p. 98. 






16 


Valentine's Manual, 1856, p. 381. 






17 


English Records, 1693. 






18 


Valentine's Manual, 1853, p, 467. 






19 


Philip Hone's Diary, p. loi. 






20 


/^/c?., p. 115. 






21 


/&iW., p. 137. 






22 


Washington Irving, Salmagundi, p. 319. N. Y., 


1897. 




23 


Valentine's History, pp. 96, 127. 






24 


Booth's History, p. 562. 






25 


Vv^ilson's History of New York, 1893. 





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